Motty: always the man of the match

IT'S somewhat surprising when John Motson says he's looking forward to reading this article. "Can I have a copy?", he asks, as I put away my notebook when my 20 minutes is up. "I've really enjoyed talking to you. I think it's going to be really interesting." The unexpected thrill this gives me lasts long enough to get out of the shop, when I realise it is just a routine. That is, unless asking me several times if I'd nearly finished and being clearly irritated at some of my questions counts as enjoyment.

But then maybe this is being over-sensitive. After all, he's a national institution. As the voice of Match of the Day for 20-odd years, he has provided the soundtrack to many of our most cherished memories. He may be subject to gentle mockery for both his unfeasible grasp of the most obscure football trivia, and for his sheepskin coat, but it's an affectionate kind of mockery.

We're sitting in Ottakar's in Sunderland's Bridges shopping centre, where Motty is promoting his latest book, Motson's National Obsession, a collection of football trivia. Our conversation is peppered with interruptions from a steady stream of fans asking him to sign their copies, their almost awed expressions telling of their delight at meeting such a famous voice.

"I'm very pleasantly surprised by the response here, it's a lot more than I thought," he says. He says the book's popularity is down to a general love of football quizzes, and to its handy, pocket-friendly size, but he's surely being modest, for he must know much of is down to his appeal as an icon of football, and an authority on everything you ever wanted to know about the game.

He gives the impression that he could tell you the inside leg measurements of the Port Vale back line, but he says he didn't set out to be a national archive.

"I didn't try to develop it consciously," he says. "People have latched on to the sheepskin coat and the facts and figures thing that I was labelled with. In some ways it's very flattering, because it gets you noticed, but underneath that I have still got to do my job and do my commentaries for the BBC."

The sheepskin is notable by its absence, so is the anorak accusation also misplaced?

"I would not call it unfair," he admits. "I think in my early years I did use an awful lot of facts and figures in my commentaries which I would not use now.

"When I started it was just highlights, the only live game was the Cup Final, and people weren't as expert as they are now. We were informing them of things they otherwise would not know. Now people can see a live game every night of the week. There is no need for me to go through the detail.

"I have subtly changed my commentary, although people may not have noticed. Now I tend to report what is going on on the pitch and only resort to facts if there is nothing going on," he says. The book chronicles our national obsession, so is he obsessed with the game?

"I don't know how you define obsessed. It is my job, my hobby, it fills up nearly all my life. If that is being obsessed... " which I take as a yes, before he adds, "I do find time to do other things. I try not to make it my whole life. I have got a wife and an 18-year-old son."

Three years ago, he was declared the perfect football commentator after a speech therapist compared him with his contemporaries for his pitch, volume and rhythm. At the same time, fans voted him their favourite, with 32 per cent plumping for Motty over the likes of Barry Davies, Alan Green, Martin Tyler and Clive Tyldsley.

And after a while, I notice his commentary style has seeped into his conversation: he speaks in short, self-contained sentences, perhaps the easier to up the tempo when it gets exciting. So what does he think makes him a good commentator?

"You would have to ask the BBC, who have employed me for 33 years. A lot of it is enthusiasm. You treat every match as a challenge, you do your preparation.

"Where I was very fortunate is I was trained as a proper broadcaster. I got into BBC radio, which was a well-known training ground. Facts and figures and identifying the players came into it, but so did voice, delivery and timing," he says.

Unlike his early days as a commentator, he now has the benefit of replays from every conceivable angle. But the job has changed in other ways, not least the profusion of televised football, which means the audience is more, perhaps over, familiar with the players.

"I think there is a danger that we might be reaching saturation point," Motty warns. "It would be nice to have a bit of a breather between matches, so you can spend a bit of time looking forward to the next one."

But he's looking forward to the European Championships in Portugal next month, and even the next World Cup, in Germany in 2006. "I have done seven World Cups. I have got possibly another one in me," he says. So is he thinking of retiring?

"That is probably not going to be my decision. You can only look ahead so far. Germany was the first one, and there are probably a few people who think that might make it a good time to finish."

He doesn't say whether those people are friend or foe. But what would he do if he did retire? "It is at least two years away and we will deal with it when the time comes," he says tersely. Does he want to remain in football? "I haven't thought about it," the voice rising to the same pitch used for a Beckham cross from the flank.

Swiftly moving on to what should be safer ground, what was his favourite match? "Germany 1, England 5. For obvious reasons," he says immediately and brooking no elaboration.

Surely I can't go wrong with his first televised match. It was Hereford knocking Newcastle out of the FA Cup in 1972, courtesy of a wonderful Ronnie Radford goal, a giantkilling act which promoted the game from brief highlights to main feature on Match of the Day, as well as making Motty's name in the process.

"That's very old ground. That's been very well documented," he says dismissively, before relenting, "That put me on the map. It did me a power of good."

We're probably both relieved when a fan steps in to ask for an autograph, sporting that same can't-quite-believe-it's-him look. Interruption over, does he analyse his commentaries?

"I can be self-critical. I used to watch them again and pick out things I wished I hadn't said. I still do that sometimes, but you come away thinking, 'I was not very clear with that interpretation of the off-side rule', or 'I didn't spot the substitute coming on'. There is always something.

He's clearly looking forward to the return of Match of the Day in August, after a three-year hiatus when ITV had the Premiership rights. It also brings him into contact with the fans, an experience he obviously relishes.

"People will always want to come up and have a word. I don't get too much abuse, unless I have made a pig's ear of the commentary on their team.

"The affection that people have for the programme comes through, especially coming to an area like this, where I'm slightly surprised at the number of people who've come up this morning. It is nice to have people coming up and saying they're really pleased Match of the Day is back."

For now, his priority is Euro 2004, and he says he's spent the past few months boning up on the teams playing in Portugal.

"I have a pile of videos on the teams and I need to know at least 12 of them inside out. I have got through the videos once and now I have lists of who is going to be in the squads, and when the squads are announced I will do my charts on the wall," he says.

And maybe that is his appeal. As well as his unabashed enthusiasm, perhaps even obsession, for the game, there's something of the little boy in him, spending hours excitedly poring over league tables and charts. It's this preparation that gives him his mastery over the facts and figures, but also marks him out as more of a fan than an expert.

"You like to think if you've put the work in, you'll get the reward. If you go unprepared, you are obviously not going to get the end product as if you have put your heart and soul into it," he says. And he does put his heart and soul into it, because for Motty, it's more than just a job.

Then it's time for another interview before he heads to Newcastle, the next stop. It must be a relief, but then he says how much he enjoyed it ...

* Motson's National Obsession by Adam Ward with John Motson OBE (Sanctuary Publishing) £9.99.